I stalled on all the lifts. I have de loaded thrice, should i continue SS or is it right time to move to intermediate level program like Texas method.
Its hard for me to gain more weight as i am ectomorph.
My diet is average and i try to eat as much as possible. It’s not possible for me to afford supplements because it is very costly in India. Still i try to have 2 scoops of Dymatize whey protein with creatine during breakfast with milk and 2 eggs. And Universal Torrent on workout days. Also i regularly eat oat meal and bananas after my lunch.
Can’t sleep more than 7 hours.
I always work hard in gym and will be working harder. I am loving training for strength rather than aesthetics.
Help me in choosing right program for strength training after looking at my current lifts.
Your lifts aren’t bad for a beginner at your bodyweight. Get that ectomorph nonsense out of you head. You may just have a fast metabolism. Just eat more total calories. When i was a beginner at 105lbs i gorged myself silly on Indian Muslim food without any supplements and gained 40lbs.
Your lifts will go up with improvement in technique and weight and muscle gain. Choose any program which will give you a higher frequency to practice skill on your lifts and enough volume for muscle growth.
How long have you been lifting? How have your lifts and bodyweight changed since then?
For transitioning to TM, you generally transition the lower body stuff over after 3-4 deloads and the upperbody when OHP and bench have both deloaded a couple times and they both stall at the same time… the logic being that even if bench is stalled, OHP helps it get beyond the stall, and vice versa. However, I have found doing OHP for a couple of cycles at 5 x 3 can keep it moving quite a bit; OHP responds well to heavier weights, for me.
[quote]Abhisheksinh wrote:
I did Starting Strength for 4 months.
…
I have de loaded thrice[/quote]
You deloaded three times in four months on Starting Strength? I think you may be misunderstanding what a deload is supposed to be used for.
How much bodyweight did you gain in those four months?
The only time that it was hard to gain weight was when I was not eating enough. What is enough? Your body will tell you. You are not growing, you are doing too much, not eating enough or a combination.
Get rid of Universal Torrent if budget is an issue. Whey, creatine and waxy maize or dextrose is cheaper (by a factor of two). Lots of cheaper options out there.
Have been lifting since last 4 months. Use to lift before one year but it was without proper form, i use to squat but it was partial squat and even deadlift form was not proper. We don’t have qualify instructors where i live, we don’t even have squat rack in any of the gym. Most of them don’t even understand difference between strength training and training for aesthetics.
However after watching mark rippetoe starting strength dvd and many other instructional videos on squats, deadlifts, bench press and ohp i started lifting again. Reading Starting Strength Basic Barbell Training 3rd Edition.
My squat went from 110 lbs to 146 lbs.
Bench press from 99 lbs to 132 lbs.
Dead lift from 154 lbs to 220 lbs.
Bodyweight from 112 lbs to 123 lbs.
The minimum weighted plate we have is of 2.5 kg, which makes 5 kg on both side. Thus linear progression was not easy as i have to keep same weight on bar for 1 week or some times more than a week. To avoid this i will be purchasing 1.2 kg plates soon.
During deload i use to reduce 5 kg weight on bar when i missed rep on 2nd set or on last set. Will advance novice program be better suited for me rather than Texas method !!
Also i would like to ask is it a good idea to add plyometric on intensity day for increasing explosive power which will help me in increasing punching power, like squat jumps after barbell squat and 3 claps push up after bench press.
As stated above, you could probably benefit from sticking with SS longer and eating more.
Since you’re in India, nutritionally, I’m guessing protein is your limiting factor. Are you vegetarian any days of the week? If so, you need to take that into consideration of your overall intake. Milk will help on these days. Otherwise, just eat more. 3 lbs/month isn’t bad at your height, though.
As far as ‘advanced’ and other SS variations, it depends. If you are still doing the AB version (alternating squats and DLs), then yes, you should probably begin squatting 3x/week (and eating more to boot). If you do not have a squat rack, how are you getting the bar up?
As far as TM (though, I think SS will benefit more at this point), do not make any adjustments to the standard program for 6-8 weeks after you transition all your over. The texas method ebook part 1 has all the information required to adjust the program to your needs. One thing to remember is that it’s a lot less rigid than SS (or even 531); this makes it more difficult to implement at the beginning, with the benefit of getting to know your body better.
[quote]Abhisheksinh wrote:
Bodyweight from 112 lbs to 123 lbs.
[/quote]
This is the problem. Solve it.
[/quote]
123 lbs at 5’5 is something like 155 at 5’10. Just to be fair.
It doesn’t change the underlying message at all though.
Sometimes I think it gets lost that the same weight at 5’5 is quite a bit different than at 5’10 and 6’2.[/quote]
It’s not “lost”.
155 at 5’10 is too small. Should be closer to 200. Then the strength would look much better.
That’s over 40 lbs, 25% more weight on your frame. It’s a big deal. This is what is “lost” on the skinny people scared to death of “getting fat”, when they don’t even know what fat is. They leave a lot of strength on the table, and then blame being an “ectomorph” as the reason their lifts suck.
[quote]Abhisheksinh wrote:
Bodyweight from 112 lbs to 123 lbs.
[/quote]
This is the problem. Solve it.
[/quote]
123 lbs at 5’5 is something like 155 at 5’10. Just to be fair.
It doesn’t change the underlying message at all though.
Sometimes I think it gets lost that the same weight at 5’5 is quite a bit different than at 5’10 and 6’2.[/quote]
It’s not “lost”.
155 at 5’10 is too small. Should be closer to 200. Then the strength would look much better.
That’s over 40 lbs, 25% more weight on your frame. It’s a big deal. This is what is “lost” on the skinny people scared to death of “getting fat”, when they don’t even know what fat is. They leave a lot of strength on the table, and then blame being an “ectomorph” as the reason their lifts suck.
[/quote]
I do understand importance of diet. Regarding lifts i think it does not suck as a beginner who started training under a program with proper form few months back.
You see there is no one around to tell me if i am making mistake during any lifts. I record my lifts and try to improve accordingly.
Abhi, you’re doing fine. Try eating bit more (esp. protein) so that you’re gaining 1 lb/week. Try this for a month or two and see if your lifts start moving again.
If you want more explosiveness on SS, you could try the wichita falls version. You alternate DLs and power cleans every week and do 5 x 3 OHP instead of 3 x 5.
Also, for your pulls/chins, if you’re doing more than 12 in a set, they should be weighted.
[quote]Abhisheksinh wrote:
I do understand importance of diet. Regarding lifts i think it does not suck as a beginner who started training under a program with proper form few months back.
You see there is no one around to tell me if i am making mistake during any lifts. I record my lifts and try to improve accordingly.
[/quote]
If/when you feel like it, consider taking video of your lifts. Just watching yourself on video should help you see some things. And then if you want better critique, upload them here.
But yes, I think you’re doing all right for where you are. You’d probably benefit from eating more, but your weight is moving in the right direction.
[quote]1 Man Island wrote:
Abhi, you’re doing fine. Try eating bit more (esp. protein) so that you’re gaining 1 lb/week. Try this for a month or two and see if your lifts start moving again.
If you want more explosiveness on SS, you could try the wichita falls version. You alternate DLs and power cleans every week and do 5 x 3 OHP instead of 3 x 5.
Also, for your pulls/chins, if you’re doing more than 12 in a set, they should be weighted.[/quote]
